MNI DATA IMPACT: UK Wages Stagnate Even as Employment Soars>

By Les Commons and Laurie Laird

LONDON (MNI) - The following are the key points from UK labour data 

published Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics. The data were 

released ahead of the usual 0930 GMT embargo time due to a fault at the 

ONS.

     - Employment growth far exceeded expectations, surging by 222,000 

in the three months to January, the biggest increase since the three 

months to November of 2015. Employment has not declined since the three 

months to October of 2017. 

     - But the red-hot jobs market has failed to ignite a material 

acceleration in wage growth. Average wage growth steadied at 3.4% in 

the three months to January, while total wages rose by the same 

magnitude, down from an upwardly-revised 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 

     - Falling inflation has lifted real wage growth, as highlighted by 

the Bank of England following the February meeting of the Monetary 

Policy Committe. Real average earnings edged up to an annual rate of 

1.4%, the highest growth since the three months to August of 2016, up 

from 1.3% in the fourth quarter. 

     - Employment growth was concentrated in relatively low-wage 

sectors, such as hospitality (35,000 in Q4 over Q3) and transport and 

storage (up 58,000 over the same period). Manufacturing employment fell 

by 11,000 in Q4.

     - Manufacturing wage growth continued to lag, rising at an annual 

rate of just 1.8% in the three months to January, although that was a 

slight improvement over the 1.7% gain recorded in Q4. Financial sector 

wage growth -- including bonuses -- picked up to an annual rate of 4.3%, 

the best pace since the three month to August 2011.